Out of Control
by Matt1969
Summary: A couple of missing scenes from Threads (SamJack) complete
1. Default Chapter

TITLE: Out of Control  
AUTHOR: Matt, March 2005  
SUMMARY: A couple of missing scenes from Threads  
SEASON: 8  
RATING: Matt's usual non-adult fare, although there is some use of strong language (no F word)  
DISCLAIMER: While I do not own the characters of this story, I do own the writing. However, please note I make no money from either  
THANKS: To Allie, beta extraordinaire, for making me think about my writing

CHAPTER ONE

He wasn't sure who he'd been expecting on the other end of the line, but Kerry hadn't been anywhere near the forefront of his thoughts.

"Where the hell are you?" he asked. The background noise was loud; a mix of heavy beats and loud voices.

"I'm at some club, got dragged to it by well-meaning friends."

"Bit unusual for you, isn't it?" He meant the club for he knew she'd made a couple of good friendships in the short time she'd been in Colorado Springs.

"Jack, listen to me. I've only got a few minutes here."

She sounded urgent enough that Jack pulled himself into a sitting position and switched on the light. A glance at his clock told him it was late – almost midnight. "I'm listening."

"She broke off the engagement."

"Huh?"

"Colonel Carter broke off her engagement."

"And how would you know that?"

Kerry laughed, and then Jack heard a female voice in the background asking if she wanted another drink. "No, I'm good," she replied before turning her attention back to Jack. "It's the funniest thing, but I ran into him at the bar a short while ago. He's here with some colleagues apparently."

"So?" Jack was confused. Granted, he had just woken up, but he couldn't understand why Kerry would be giving him this news. And he had a feeling Kerry felt it was perfectly obvious why she'd called him.

"So?" There was a pause, more muffled voices, and then, "Shit, I've gotta go."

The conversation ended with the beep of her cellphone.

Jack sighed, placed his phone back on the bedside table, and swung his legs out of bed. Moments later he was standing in his kitchen, running his fingers through his hair and trying to digest the intel he'd just been handed.

He knew Kerry wasn't just a desk flunkie sent to assess the SGC. She'd been a field operative until an injury had temporarily sidelined her. Damn, she'd obviously been good at her job; she'd successfully figured out what was going on in his head – or who was actually in his heart – and backed out before she got in over her head. There was no doubt that tonight she'd used some of those intelligence-gathering skills she'd learned over the years to obtain this information.

So, Carter had broken off her engagement with the cop. He didn't know whether to be happy or sad over that piece of news. The woman he loved had been through a lot over the past few days, both professionally and personally. Daniel was missing – again. The Jaffa were in trouble – again. And then there'd been Jacob.

Jack would be the first to admit that he and Jacob hadn't seen eye to eye when they'd first met; maybe it was the way the two-star General had been so uptight while Jack had been his charming, yet flippant, self. Over the years, however, a rapport had developed between them. They worked well together and could be frank in their discussions with each other. Jack was fairly certain Selmak had had a lot to do with that, but it was also surprising how Selmak had seemed different from other Tok'ra. If it was true that the symbiote took on aspects of the host's character, then maybe Jacob really just had been an overprotective father wanting the best for his daughter.

The phone rang again and Jack picked it up, only to be greeted with the sound of a toilet flushing. "Oh-kay," he said slowly.

"Sorry," the voice at the other end said with a giggle. "I was about to say I'd found a place that was a little quieter."

"Obviously," Jack remarked dryly.

"Anyway, he's here, he's getting drunk with his friends, and it's apparent they're trying to fix him up with someone else."

"So?"

"We're still friends, aren't we?" the voice asked quietly.

Jack stared down at his counter-top. When they'd begun seeing each other, they'd agreed that whatever happened wouldn't affect their working relationship. He wasn't sure friendship had come into it – and maybe that had been part of the problem with the intimate relationship – but he decided to let it slide for now. "Sure," he replied easily.

"Well, as your friend, I'm also going to try to fix you up with someone else."

He shook his head. "Kerry, I am not coming to whatever club you're all at…"

"I'm not telling you to come here," she cut in. "I'm telling you to go there. Go and see Colonel Carter."

"Why?"

"Why? Oh jeez, Jack, you are so damn stubborn. Do you even remember the conversation we had in your office?"

Of course he did. No one forgets being ditched. "You broke up with me," he replied. "How could I forget?"

"Well, I hope you remember the rest of the conversation equally as well," she retorted. "I don't think retirement from the military would be considered a crime, you know. But for goodness' sake, Jack, at least talk things through with her. Before she slips through your fingers again."

"It's not the right time," he tried to bluster.

There was a groan. "Jack, you almost ran out of time once. Do you really want that to happen again?"

And he had to admit that he didn't.

TBC


	2. chapter 2

TITLE: Out of Control

CHAPTER TWO

There was definitely something wrong with this picture, Jack decided as he sat in his car and looked over at the house. He was the General, for crying out loud. He should be giving the orders, not obeying orders given out by civilians who didn't even work for him.

Kerry's words had finally got through his thick skull. The SGC was not a calm place; his life was anything but peaceful. Daniel was missing and there was no obvious evidence that he'd be returning this time. After all, no Goa'uld or replicator had laid claim to him. Jacob had been expected to outlive them all, but that had turned out to be a wrong presumption on all their parts. What if one day Jack sent SG-1 on a mission and she didn't come back? What if she found someone else who was a better match than Pete and she did marry him?

He had to say something to her. After all, he really didn't have anything to lose. If the worst happened then perhaps Hammond would take pity on him and reassign him to another part of the Stargate Project. Or maybe the SecDef would send him out to the middle-eastern theater. Perhaps Thor could beam him straight to a planet far, far away where there were plenty of fish and creatures that looked like dogs and absolutely no alien threats from anywhere else in the galaxy. Hell, maybe they could even find a ZPM and he could take a one-way trip to Atlantis and join the fight against the Wraith.

Jack slammed his hand against his steering wheel, wincing slightly when the horn went off with a staccato toot. He hoped he hadn't woken up the neighbourhood with that. A glance at her house revealed that a small light had gone on in one of the rooms; he'd woken up one person anyway. As soon as she looked out the window she'd see his car parked outside. There was nothing else to do but seize the moment.

The front door swung open as he approached and she appeared from behind it. "Sir?" she questioned with a slight gulp.

It was immediately obvious that she'd been crying - something she'd tried so hard to refrain from doing in public – and his heart sunk. Instinct won a subconscious battle against self-control and, with a couple of strides forward, he gathered her into his arms with the two words to which he knew she responded so well. "Come here."

It was as though she knew there was no need for pretence with him. She sagged into his arms without a second's thought and he tightened his arms around her, never wanting to let go. He stepped over the threshold of her home and kicked the door behind him with his foot. Then he just held her silently as she let loose all the emotion she'd been holding back.

Eventually, he managed to walk her through to the living room and sat them both down on the couch. She sniffed and hiccupped against his now-damp shirt and he stroked her hair and back lightly until she gradually quietened. At last, there were no sounds in the room other than the tick of the mantel clock.

"I've made such a mess of things," she said, the words muffled by the material.

"No, you haven't."

"Yes, yes, I have." She pulled back and stared up at him. "He asked me if I was happy, and I said yes." The sobbing began again. "I lied to my own father and he was dying. How could I have done that?"

"Shhh," he whispered, pulling her back against him. "You let him die thinking you were happy and that was the main thing." To Jack, the important part wasn't the lying, but letting Jacob die with peace in his heart.

"But he knew," she burst out. "He knew I was lying. I lied to him and he knew and now he's gone and there's no way I can make it up to him."

She was hurting badly and he couldn't think of a way to remove that hurt. "Sam," Jack asked quietly. "Are you happy?"

Sam sat upright and scrubbed at her eyes. "No," she replied. "I thought I was, but I wasn't. But it's like I didn't know I wasn't happy. I had my job, and a man who thought I was worth it, but I wanted more."

Jack nodded. "You did say you'd been having some second thoughts about the wedding. Was it because of the house?"

"No," she said with a gulp. "I don't think so. Pete took a chance on me, you know. He was willing to change his entire life because he loved me. But I didn't love him back, not in the way he wanted me to."

"So, it's over?" Jack didn't want to reveal that he'd heard from someone other than Sam, but figured that a guess was a safe bet.

She nodded. "I gave him back the ring, told him he deserved more than I could give him."

"Well," he began with a wry smile," at least you got to be the one to do the breaking up thing."

Sam looked at him quizzically.

"Kerry broke up with me. Didn't even see it coming."

"Oh, Sir, I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "She's CIA, you know, able to make some damn fine observations about things. Things I hadn't even noticed until she said so."

"What did she observe?"

"That I wasn't as invested in a relationship outside work as much as she was."

"Oh."

"Yeah, you see, it's a funny thing, but I guess our situations are alike in some ways. We were both settling for second-best, even though we didn't realise it." He took a deep breath. "We thought we could be happy with other people instead of with each other. Fact is, Sam, I don't know that I could be happy with anyone else."

She smiled shyly. "I… I don't think I could be either." There was a pause and a long-missed sparkle returned to her eye. "When did you get so smart?"

He shrugged and grinned. "I guess I just got some sense knocked into me. Either that, or the rank is getting to me!"

"So now what?" she whispered.

Jack reached out to hold her again. "Tomorrow," he said quietly to the top of her blonde head, "we look at our options. Kerry pointed out a few things to me that I hadn't really considered. But, for now," he shuffled so that they were both lying down on the couch, "we sleep."

FINIS


End file.
